In Other News..."Halloween" Producer Dies in Bomb Attack
Moustapha Akkad, producer of the cult "Halloween" slasher series and the director of three of his own religious-themed films, died Friday after suffering injuries from the hotel bombings in Jordan.
Akkad, 75, and his 34 year-old daughter, Rima Akkad Monla, were in the lobby of the Radisson SAS in Amman when bombs went off in a simultaneous attack on three area hotels; Monla also died.
Akkad, a Los Angeles resident, had enjoyed a nearly 20-year career in filmmaking despite the difficulties of being Arabic and Muslim in Hollywood. The native Syrian began by directing his own Muslim-themed films: "The Message" (1976) and "Lion of the Desert" (1981). Following the resulting acclaim and religious controversy, Akkad turned to horror films, executive producing John Carpenter's legendary "Halloween" (1978).
After the seminal thriller took off, making stars of director Carpenter and actress Jamie Lee Curtis, Akkad went on to produce every one of the seven "Halloween" sequels; in fact, he is the only person connected to the franchise to boast credits on every one of the "Halloween" movies. An announced eighth sequel, "Halloween: Retribution," has been slated for a 2006 release by The Weinstein Co. and will be produced by Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob, who worked with Akkad co-producing "Halloween: H2O" (1998) and "Halloween: Resurrection" (2002).
Akkad, 75, and his 34 year-old daughter, Rima Akkad Monla, were in the lobby of the Radisson SAS in Amman when bombs went off in a simultaneous attack on three area hotels; Monla also died.
Akkad, a Los Angeles resident, had enjoyed a nearly 20-year career in filmmaking despite the difficulties of being Arabic and Muslim in Hollywood. The native Syrian began by directing his own Muslim-themed films: "The Message" (1976) and "Lion of the Desert" (1981). Following the resulting acclaim and religious controversy, Akkad turned to horror films, executive producing John Carpenter's legendary "Halloween" (1978).
After the seminal thriller took off, making stars of director Carpenter and actress Jamie Lee Curtis, Akkad went on to produce every one of the seven "Halloween" sequels; in fact, he is the only person connected to the franchise to boast credits on every one of the "Halloween" movies. An announced eighth sequel, "Halloween: Retribution," has been slated for a 2006 release by The Weinstein Co. and will be produced by Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob, who worked with Akkad co-producing "Halloween: H2O" (1998) and "Halloween: Resurrection" (2002).
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Quadran writes: on Nov 11 2005 10:51 PM That is very sad news. May he rest in peace. (Reply to this) |
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Infernal writes: on Nov 11 2005 11:49 PM [b]Indeed.[/b] Yes, indeed. I am not crying out loud, but my soul is screaming in agony inside my body. The Halloween series is actually rather good. I thought the older ones were a bit better, but Resurrection WAS still pretty good. I'm hoping that this will actually be as good as the rest of the series, instead of like many of the moronic 'horror' flicks of today. (Reply to this) |
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Jaws2004 writes: on Nov 12 2005 04:31 AM Very sad. R.I.P. (Reply to this) |
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jtown91 writes: on Nov 12 2005 09:28 AM Is it just me or does the title of this article seem a little insensitive? "Oh yeah, and in other news, some guy died.." You're cold-blooded, RT. (Reply to this) |
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dylan21484nj writes: on Nov 12 2005 01:22 PM very sad to heard this. the Halloween series is the reason i want to work in the film industry. we'll miss you, Moustapha, and my heart goes out to Malek and the rest of the Akkad family for their loss. (Reply to this) |
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skletonkee writes: on Nov 12 2005 02:41 PM In reply to this comment (#827689) [b]well...[/b] it beats what they did to somebody earlier this year...err, cant think of the actress but it was bulked together with twenty other news items as a sidenote... truly pathetic..but it was when the RTNews just started...so i excused them. this is an improvement..now they just need to learn tact. ;) (Reply to this) |
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Callpacas writes: on Nov 13 2005 10:19 AM bloody terrorists.. what have the world turn into? (Reply to this) |
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Arabian Blade writes: on May 05 2007 06:46 PM [b]RIP Akkad[/b] Those darn extremists killed the man who was trying to help people understand Islam better. (Reply to this) |
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